Alkaline detergents, particularly those intended for institutional and commercial use, in combination with the presence of hard water commonly result in heavy scale formation that is difficult to control. The level of hardness in water can have a deleterious effect in many systems. For example, calcium carbonate precipitation on the surface of ware can negatively impact the aesthetic appearance of the ware, giving an unclean look. In general, hard water refers to water having a level of calcium and magnesium ions in excess of about 100 ppm expressed in units of ppm calcium carbonate. Often, the molar ratio of calcium to magnesium in hard water is about 2:1 or about 3:1. Although most locations have hard water, water hardness tends to vary from one location to another.
The control of such water hardness presents additional difficulty in ware wash applications employing high alkalinity and/or use at elevated temperatures. Therefore, there is a need for use of chelating agents and/or threshold agents for use with high alkaline detergent compositions because of their ability to solubilize metal salts and/or prevent water hardness from scaling and/or precipitating. Traditionally, phosphates have been formulated in products as sequestrants for water hardness. However, in recent years, attention has been directed to producing highly effective detergent compositions having reduced amounts of phosphorus, including phosphates. Phosphates typically serve multiple purposes in detergent compositions, for example, to remove and suspend soils, and act as an effective hardness sequestrant. Due to various ecological concerns, further work has recently been directed to replacing phosphorous-containing compounds in detergents. In addition, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)-containing aminocarboxylate components used in place of phosphorous-containing compounds in some instances as a binding agents and/or sequestrants are believed to be carcinogenic. As such, their use has also been curtailed in detergent compositions.
There is also a need for continued development of low temperature dish washing machines and detergent compositions suitable for use therein. Beneficially, reducing temperatures employed in dish washing or ware wash machines results in energy savings and other benefits for consumers.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to develop detergent compositions to address at least one of these problems and/or to offer detergent compositions with usage, environmental and/or safety benefits.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the claimed invention to develop detergent compositions having phosphorus eliminated from the formulations.
A further object of the invention is a low temperature detergent compositions being phosphorus-free and reducing and/or eliminating scale build-up of treated surfaces.
A further object of the invention is to develop methods of employing phosphorus-free detergent compositions under low temperature ware washing conditions that further eliminate scale build-up on treated surfaces.